Koh Samui - Koh Phangan - Samui - Phi Phi - Krabi - Phuket - Kuala Lumpur

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It’s been a few weeks since my last blog so there’s probably bits and pieces I have forgotten about but will come back to me.



Koh Samui Continued from previous blog entry -

After “the show” on the green in front of all the bungalows and the episode with the cock roach I woke up feeling a little groggy. I was stiff as a bored and had a killer headache. Popped some pills, got showered and went for a mooch down the beach, #standard! I made notes of all the hotels I liked with a view of leaving Anna Resort to check into a new place on the actual beach just in time for when Emma and Katie arrive. I must had seen 6-8 hotels/resorts I really liked the look of but upon checking the prices it soon became apparent that they were all way over my budget so I opted to book in at Kingbusche Reggae Beach which was a small complex of 8 bamboo huts on the beach.



That evening, my last in Anna Resort, I went to bed early as I was still feeling groggy. Slept really well but woke up feeling no better. I checked out and mooched down the beach to Reggae Beach. Checked in, it was £8 per night. I managed probably 2 hours in the sun before I needed to hit the shade so I chilled for the rest of the day, and the following day in a hammock in the shade. It soon became apparent that I had got sunstroke, a temperature of 39, cramps and constant headaches. After speaking to my mum for sympathy she helped me decide that I needed to binge on some sugar and salt and lots of water to get all my levels back up so that’s exactly what I did, £13 later I felt like I was willy wonker, so much chocolate and rubbish food but it seemed to help.



The next time I was feeling ok was the day Emma and Katie arrived. They flew into Koh Samui at 12.10pm. I gave them instructions on where to tell the taxi driver to take them but he couldn’t find where I was staying so he dumped them in a restaurant opposite Anna Resort which was just up the road so I mooched along the beach and went to meet them. It was great to see people I knew. Whilst I love travelling on my own there is nothing better than seeing a familiar smiling face and someone that you can have a conversation with that has no small chit chat.



For the next two days we sunbathed on the beach. The girls wanted to get their tans up and running. One evening we hired two Kayaks so we could go and watch the sunset behind the mountain. It was great as Katie kept going round and round in circles whilst Emma and I were steaming off ahead and laughing hard all the way. Today was also Katie’s Birthday so we went for some food at “Relax Restaurant” where we had been previously however tonight we ordered a burger each….. well, It definitely was not a beef or Chicken Burger… It was wrank! We had a few drinks back at the resort on the beach and went to bed as the next day we were leaving to head to Koh Phangan for the half-moon party.



The next morning we made our way to Nathon Pier on Koh Samui which cost us about £4. When we got there the driver dropped us off at the wrong pier and this made Emma a little angry as it was really hot and we had to walk to the other pier which was about 1000m away. I was chuckling to myself inside lol. We got on the Lompraya Catamaran but the sea was so choppy that people, mainly kids were being sick and this made Emma even more angry as she was also feeling sick. I must admit, this wasn’t like any boat ride I had been on before, more like a roller coaster but great fun though.

Koh Phangan -



We arrived at Koh Phangan 35 minutes later. Our accommodation was already booked, “Lime and Soda Resort”. Emma and Katie had booked this prior to their arrival on Koh Samui. When we checked in we were all really surprised at how nice it was and then the bell boy carried our bags to the room which was right next to the beach and the pool. We spent the rest of that day sunbathing but when night time fell that’s when the madness began and Long Islands started to flow. Needless to say I had a few too many Long Islands and couldn’t remember eating dinner, in fact I can’t remember anything of that night but all in all I’m told it was a great night. The following day was all preparation for Half-Moon party. It was nice and relaxing as we knew it would probably get a little messy in the evening. It actually rained for an hour that morning and stayed over cast all day but it was actually quite nice as it was relatively cool. 9pm came and we headed to the hotel bar which was situated on the beach. They had banging tunes playing and people were painting themselves with UV Paint. There were 3 girls who I had briefly spoken to earlier that day sat at the bar so I went and had a chat with them, Sarah, Lou and Emily. Lou and Emily are from Surrey and Sarah is from Derby (ish) – She would kill me for saying that. Emma Katie and I ended up going to the party with the girls at midnight and we all stuck together. By 2pm and too many long islands later I and a few of the girls were a little drunk so we all left and went back to the hotel. Emma and Katie went to bed by me and the three girls stayed up and had a party at 5.30am. Sarah’s bra got robbed by a dog…. It was so funny. I had to get out the pool and chase a random dog around the complex to get her bra back, good times. Emma and Katie advised me the next day that I came to bed about 5.55am of which I cannot remember.



The following day we all got up at around 10.30am. We went out and sat around the pool and Lou, Sarah and Emily were just waiting to check out. We swapped contact details and I arranged to meeting in Kuala Lumpur on the 11^th March. I loved the girls and can’t wait to see them again, #beauts! #Legends #lovethem



Emma Katie and I spent the rest of the day chilling out. By 1pm I was shattered and was struggling to stay awake. I managed to refrain from falling asleep all day but I was in bed early (ish) ready for our departure tomorrow.

Back to Koh Samui -



Today we headed back to Koh Samui for 4 days. Emma and Katie had already booked accommodation there, “Samui Beach Resort” on Lamai Beach. Upon them checking in I asked their hotel if they had any rooms for me but there never had any so I went for a little mooch and managed to find a room around the corner from them at only £14 per night. It was an actual apartment on the top floor with a sea view one side and street view the other. We didn’t do a lot throughout the whole day other than sunbathe. That evening we went for a walk along the beach and stopped at the first restaurant we found. Stayed there for a bit then went back and went to bed.



The following day we rented a car and went to explore the island. It turns out Koh Samui is pretty big. We hired a brand new Toyota car which was the most gutless bag of pooh I have ever driven. We went to two water falls, both were dry apart from a trickle. We went to or past several beaches and explored the outback of the island which was nice to see and do so we could experience the non-commercial side. We went to the big budda and Bang Po beach which was beautiful. Here we stopped and had a drink in a cool bar called Karma and we saw a man with a monkey In his arms. Further into our journey we drove through Chawieng Beach area which is where it all happens, and at that point we decided that tomorrow night’s destination would be here. Time was getting on by this point so we stopped off in a BBQ steak house back on Lamai beach and had some munch before we had to take the car back. Car had to be back by 9pm. We didn’t do much that evening other than sit and have a few beers outside Emma and Katie’s hotbox of a room (No Aircon)!!! = Hell.



After yesterday’s road trip we decided we would spend all day sunbathing and that’s exactly what we did. Later that evening we headed to Chawieng Beach. We stopped at a bar and had some food and the long islands were out… several long islands later we arrived at Ark Bar which was the most epic and coolest beach club I have ever been to. We stayed here all night.. More drinks later I decide to dance in the sea in just my Calvin’s…. SHAMED! Katie filmed this to my horror. There was a fire show at the bar too which was amazing. This was probably one of the best nights of my journey so far. Needless to say the next day was also a right off.. More sunbathing and we spent the night in my apartment drinking cups of tea watching Monsters Ink, it was great!

Krabi -



The next day we left Koh Samui and headed to Krabi. This involved a 1 hour Lompraya catamaran ride to Surat Thani and then a 2 hour bus ride to Krabi Town. This journey was definitely the best I have had so far. It was smooth, on time, relaxing and a nice ride through the jungles of Krabi. Upon reaching Krabi we had a taxi collect us and take us to City Hotel. For Emma and Katie this hotel turned out to be amazing as it had Air Con, something they had missed and yearned for whilst in the hot box on Koh Samui. Katie was dying to get to the night markets so she could spend some money but upon exploring it we soon realised that it wasn’t the best market at all. We found a bar and ordered a tower of Chiang Beer, 4 Litres, and sat and drank that between us. We all went to bed and woke up fresh the next morning.



I woke up earlier than the girls and decided to head out to see what we could do that day. It turns out that Krabi is a quiet town but has so much potential. The infrastructure is there for it to be so good but it was like a ghost town, spookily quiet and empty. Shame really. I went back to the hotel 1 hour later and the girls were up and ready and pretty much waiting for me. We headed out and decided that we would go to Ao Nang Beach. Upon arrival there we were a little disappointed as you had to get a boat to “the nice islands” if you wanted to go and see the pure white sands and crystal beaches. We were disappointed because the price to do this was really expensive so we decided that we wouldn’t bother and that we’ll just stay on the Ao Nang beach and sunbathe. The sea here was really calm and really warm too but I did spot a few jelly fish and that wasn’t what I wanted to sea bobbing around my legs. We left Ao Nang and headed back to Krabi Town. The pickup truck was full so I ended up standing on the back which was a great experience as I got to see so much and so many of the lime stone karsts that shadow everything around them due to their vast height and sheer rock faces. Later than evening we went for a walk around Krabi town again but went a different direction. Nothing more to see really but we had a good munch at the food markets and went back to the room to chill out and pack ready to leave at 8am for Koh Phi Phi.



Koh Phi Phi -

8am soon came and we headed to the passenger port for Koh Phi Phi. I was really excited about this as this island is supposed to be utterly beautiful. 1 hour 30 mins later we sail up close to the lime stone mountains of PP and I was in awe of it! I have never seen whiter sand and nor have I ever seen the sea turn so pale and clear, it was paradise. We had to pay 20 baht to enter the island. We then established that there are no cars or roads on it either but luckily our hotel, “Charlie Beach Resort” was just on the otherside of the island… Sounds far but the main central point of Phi Phi is a sand break between two huge mountains. The boats arrive on one side and the hotels are on the other. Literally about 1000 meters between to the two beaches. We checked in and went to the pool, well Emma and Katie did. Me being me I had to go exploring so I got my camera and went walking and man did I see some beautiful sites… Photos say it all. After the pool closed we went and booked a half day boat trip which would take is to Monkey Beach, Viking Caves, Prehah Cove and Maya Beach which is where the film “The Beach” was filmed. We then decided to go and mooch around the bars… well this ended up being another blinder of a night. I was jumping through rings of fire, we were dancing in the sea at different clubs along the beach, we had an apple Shisha which was lush and a girl who I met in Chiang Mai about 6 weeks ago recognised me by my smile whilst I was walking along the beach was which lovely! God knows what her name is though… Upon the night ending I apparently went off for a wee but somehow managed to fall over and cut my toe open. I had blood everywhere. All other the white towels, the bed sheets, my boxer shorts….. I don’t remember any of it. There is video evidence though, to my horror and also the girls amusement. All in all it was a great great night. One thing that has become very very certain though, 3 long islands is good… 4+ is not good… Daniel (me) loses all his inhibitions lol..



The day after this we set off on this trip on a long tail boat, the same as the ones in my pictures. Very loud and very low to the water and really hard to get on and off as the girls found out. The first stop was literally a tiny beach with loads of monkeys on it. Crazy little things. After this we stopped in a cove where the water was so clear you could make out grains of sand whist being in it chest deep. It was really warm and we stopped here and swam around. We then made our way to Maya Beach. This place was so epic. The mountains, the sheer vastness of the cove and the white sands…. Beautiful. However, we think they should have taken us there earlier in the day when the tide wasn’t out because the boats had to stop far out which meant we all had to wade through water whilst walking over coral in flip flops which isn’t ideal. Needless to say Emma twisted her angle, broke her flip flop and I cut my ankle. When we left the boat captain stopped in between Phi Phi Don and Phi Phi Ley so we could watch the sunset into the sea. It was beautiful.



When we got back on land we were going to go out for dinner but once we got back to our hotel and monged out on our beds we were all shattered so we went to the shop and got some junk food and watched Django unchanged, love that film.



Phuket -

Today we got up at 7, ready to leave Koh Phi Phi at 9am to head to Patong in Phuket. We got here at 1pm and checked into Horizon Beach and Spa Resort. It’s a lovely hotel but expensive for food and drinks and Wi-Fi…. Have to pay to use Wi-Fi in the room which sucks. Emma and Katie chilled in the pool afternoon. I was restless so I just mooched around and waited for the room to become ready. The room is MASSIVE! It also has really comfortable beds of which I couldn't wait to get in to. Every day at Phuket turned into a beach sunbathing day. We went out for food every night, found an amazing Irish bar and ordered bangers and mash with onion gravy one evening and went back to days later and had a Chicken Sub Baguette which rocked. Katie and Emma were also craving proper home cooking style food so this went down a right treat.

One thing that made us laugh a lot was the market traders "DVD MATE"..... They all thought I was from Australia so kept mimicking an Aussie accent but poorly. Katie was in her element as she could spend more money, that said I had to do the bartering for her and Emma but always tried to get a "good price mate"..... Emma would be in and out the shade the whole time, and I can't say I blame her, it was 37 degrees and no clouds or breeze, but she got a good tan from sitting in the shade, random...

On our last day we checked out at 12pm and hired a driver to take us to Tiger Kingdom, to see some Elephants and to take us to the big Buddha. That only cost us 700 baht which was a bargin. When we got to Tiger Kingdom I was a little reluctant to have my picture taken with doped tigers but I couldn't resist, they were amazing so we opted to have our photos taken with small and "smallest" size tigers. Emma and Katie could have cried as they were totally in their element and its something they have both wanted to do for a long time. When we left Tiger Kingdom we headed up to the big Buddha but stopped just before the top and an elephant camp where they had a baby elephant that screeched a "thank you" after Emma and Katie had fed it bananas, it was too cool, proper cute. We left there and went to the big Buddha and view point which was amazing. Such great views and it was weird as it didn't look like Thailand which I now know is dirty, rough around the edges with a few hidden gems (but lots of nice people). The place we could see didn't show any of this, just pure beautiful, natural views. Once all this was done we headed to the airport and said our goodbyes at the check in desks. The girls were flying back to Bangkok ready for their next flight the following day and I was flying to Kuala Lumpur for 6 nights. My flight was delayed by 45 mins but it still got in at its original time which is weird.

Kuala Lumpur -

My flight got in at 23.45pm. I knew the airport was quite far from the city but not quite as far as it seemed. I got a taxi which cost me £18. Sounds a lot but the airport was a 45 minute motorway journey and the driver was doing 90 pretty much all of the way, it did seem to go on forever. I got to my hostel, Grid 9, in the city at 12.45am. I went to my room and was greeted with a lovely quiet room and a really nice comfortable bed pillows. I slept so good that night until 7.15am where the person next to me pressed snooze on their alarm for the next hour, or until I shouted "shut your F***ing phone up".. after that it went silent and they checked out at 9.30am. I got up and headed out at 10.30 and headed for China Town. Dropped some laundry in and carried on walking. I saw a massive tower looming in the distance so I walked to it and I was able to go up in it. Its Kuala Lumpur's communication town, its the 6th tallest in the world. It cost me £8 to get to the top but was so worth it. From there I noticed the PETRONAS towers a short distance away so I walked to them also, incredible. I will be going back their with the girls I met in Koh Phangan when its dark so we can get some photos of it all eliminated.

That's it for now, all up to day. 5 days to go until Australia.

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Photos

Sun setting over Surat Thani Mainland Thailand
(Taken from Koh Phangan)

A cove on Phi Phi Ley Island
We swam in this warm crystal clear water for half hour

Maya Beach (Emma and katie)
This is where "The Beach" was filmed

Maya Beach
This is where "The Beach" was filmed

Money Shot Sunset Picture
Taken in between Phi Phi Ley and Phi Phi Don